RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Bob's Barbie packs nostalgia in a hot dog bun

Inside Bob's Barbie's Yeonnam-dong location, Feb. 6, 2021 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Anyone who remembers the 2000s in Korea knows the foreign food scene was lacking. That goes for the area around western Seoul's Hongik University as well, which had a lot of good, cheap Korean restaurants and Korean street food, but very little in the way of foreign food. One of the early establishments to challenge that was Bob's Barbie.

I first encountered Bob's Barbie in the late 2000s, when it was a food counter operating out of a building right next to Hongdae Playground, across the alley from the ice cream waffle stand (which is still there). Having a place where you could go for some food on the go was a game changer, and it being next to the playground was especially convenient. Bob's Barbie was best known originally for hot dogs. It still is, but in the meantime, it's experimented with a lot of other foods, including meat pies, basically various things you can eat with your hands. It has often been described as Australian-style.

Bob's Barbie is open for business next to Hongdae Playground, Sept. 18, 2009. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

In the old days, I remember having what they called the Black Dog, which was a hot dog loaded with bacon, relish, cheese and various other things, served in a black squid ink bun. It was the best drunk food imaginable. Sadly, the black hot dog bun was discontinued, and they had to start using regular buns, now calling it the Double Cheese Dog. It's still almost as good as the original Black Dog, but not all the way.

Bob's Barbie expanded over the years, opening up a few other locations and raising an impressive profile, then ultimately it contracted again. The original Hongdae location closed in 2017, the same year Hongdae Playground was rebranded as Hongdae Park and ceased to be the central nexus of the area, but the storefront stayed there years longer until 2021.

Now, only one location of Bob's Barbie remains, a quirky space in nearby Yeonnam-dong, a stone's throw away from the heavily crowded Yeontral Park. I miss being able to order a hot dog and eat it in the playground, or in front of Club Spot during a show, but the new location has its advantages too.

Bob's Barbie Yeonnam is open daily from noon to 1 a.m. Follow @bobsbarbie_yn on Instagram for more information.